and now at 9:00 check your tickets, you could have the winning powerball ticket. one of three winning tickets was sold right here in florida. all the winnings numbers straight -- winning numbers straight ahead. adam winer here on the road to loose with a group of -- tallahassee with a group of teachers looking tommying pick changes to florida's education system. to tell lawmakers what they want done differently. that's coming up. a pivotal vote later this

pete and it could affect the field. i'm lindsey logue with the live report coming up. if you haven't already check those tickets. we have a winner. make that three big jackpot powerball winners. >> one of the winning tickets sold as a publix in melbourne beach. >> others were sold in chino hills, california and mumford, memphis. >> a very excited and very large crowd celebrated as the owner of that convenience store in california showed off the winning machine. >> this is the luckiest machine on the planet. so make sure everybody come here to play. >> his excitement understandable. the owner gets a $1 million bonus for selling the winning ticket. >> check your tickets carefully. you might have won a smaller prize and by smaller we mean maybe $1 million, $2 million, and here are the winning

and even if you aren't a millionaire, several times over, florida lottery tweeted overnight that there were 11 million dollar prize winners in our state and even one person picked up a $2 million prize in last night's drawing. in other news this morning, breaking just into the newsroom in the last hour, actor alan rickman known for his roles in harry potter has died at the age of 69. his family breaking the news the star was suffering from cancer. he became one of the britain's best loved stars thanks to roles including professor snape in the harry potter films. friends when he passed away. right now buses full of teachers and parents from here heading up to tallahassee to demand changes that could impact your child's experience in the classroom. recess in schools. abc action news reporter adam

adam what's the feel as you all are heading up to tallahassee? >> reporter: yeah, there's a huge rally thereupon in tallahassee. it's cull can be up there in -- up there in tallahassee. it's called enough is enough. and teachers from all florida are going to be -- over florida are going to be here. one of them here with me is susan and she's from denizen middle school. you know we were talking earlier. the lot of issues you guys are wanting to focus on but a big one not just recess but also test stores -- scores, what this n your mind is -- in your mind is wrong about the way florida is testing students right now? >> the testing is become stock restrictive -- becoming so restrictive because it impacts our careers and salaries and we know it's not always in the southwest breast of the stunt -- best interest of the students, there are current stories that can really grab the kids and not just little test takers. and yet because the testing is so rigid. and we have to give up soft

time to -- so much time to prepare the students for the tests, teachers feel like they haven't can the -- can't have the autonomy in the classroom to deviate because of the test from what's expected of them. >> reporter: what's going to be your message to lawmakers today? >> let the teachers teach. >> it's not about this test. it's not about that one number that they might get on that one day on that one test. we got to look at the students as a whole. to make them that truly well rounded student. and the test is not going to do that. >> reporter: susan one of many here from polk county. actually two more buses of teachers and parents behind us here on the road to tallahassee. coming up in the next half hour, you're going to hear from another teacher about the reason that she is also on this bus trying to take that message to lawmakers. for now live on the bus to tallahassee, i think we're somewhere on i-10, back to you. >> adam winer reporting live. happening today, a vote in st. petersburg that could impact the tampa bay rays' future at the trop.

city council members expected to vote on an agreement with the team that allows them to explore other stadiums. the ray have been asking for a new one since 2009. abc action news anchor lindsey logue is live at the field this morning. sounds like the rays go r getting what they want. is the city protected? >> reporter: dan, absolutely. and that's probably the biggest parking lot of this agreement. -- part of the agreement. there are monetary incentives if the stemmatas here at the -- team stays here at the trop and monetary permits if they -- feints if they go -- penalties if they go. for now they want to explore other options and see if they're better suited for counties. if the rays break the contract and move before 2027, they have to pay up as much as $24 million to the city of st. pete. if they stay, redevelopment plans are in the works for 780 ache -- 70 acres here at the tropicana field and the team would benefit from a 50/50

split of the reeds from development -- proceeds from the development at that site. city council motes for a vote this -- meets for a volt this afternoon at 3:00. back to you. >> this is the third time the council has made a vote like this. what's different this time? >> reporter: dan, there was an election in november. and that added two new council members to the board. both of them back the tampa bay rays and support redevelopment here at tropicana field. one other note about the vote this afternoon, it must be a majority vote. so five or more council members must vote yes if it's a tie, it fails. live at tropicana field, lindsey logue, abc action news. all right, if you're headed out the door right now, temperatures are in the low 50s in hillsborough county. off to the north and citrus county, where temperatures started off near 40 degrees. we are now mainly in the 50s. so we are starting to see those temperatures come up as sunshine is starting to kick in in spots and again we will have

a lot of cloud cover today but nothing that should cause you any problems if you're driving around town throughout the morning or even into the afternoon. will be mostly dry. 65 degrees as the high today in tampa. now the rain chances do start going up after sunset tonight. so the tail end of the commute could end up with a few showers across the area. but we didn't need any rain because the -- to cause us any problems this morning, janelle? yeah, it's a mess out there. people are still tweeting me asking me what's going on? well, right here looking pretty good. i-4 just west of mlk. you're looking great as you head into tampa. downtown tampa on i-4. and your drive down to the howard frankland, not bad either. just about six minutes to get there. it's the opposite direction heading northbound from the bridge up to i-4 where we're seeing the drive time almost doubled due to those lane shifts that they did just a couple of days ago. so definitely want the leave yourself -- to leave yourself some extra time. also avoid anderson between line baugh and waters. we don't have any crashes reported. it could be some slowdowns

there due to a crash at waters and the veterans. people might be trying to avoid the veterans. and heading over to anderson, very slow right now couple of people have tweeted me and asked me what's going on. again, no accidents reported but for the moment, i would take the vets, that's in the green where anderson there is in the red. so avoid that area. and we still have these slowdowns here in the wesley chapel area, state road 56 getting on to i-75. very slow due to an earlier crash on i-75. back to you. thanks janelle. hillsborough county a man is in the hospital right now after he was hit by a car while riding his bike in tampa. police say it happened on west hillsborough avenue around 3:00 this morning. tea they will us that man was riding along the road and at least two other cars dodged him before he was hit and injured. officers do tell us the bicyclist could be cited because he was riding in the street. meanwhile we're making phone callings right now to the florida highway patrol and trying to get some more information on a serious motorcycle crash.

this one happened on faulkenburg road and around 9:00 last night. we're hearing two people were seriously hurt. it is still not clear exactly what caused this crash. breaking news in indonesia's kaz tap. the -- capital. the islamic state is now taking responsibility for the terror attack the morning in jakarta that left at least two civilians dead. that attack began when one militant blew himself up at a starbucks. other attackers then opened fire and shooting people on the streets and similar to the terror actions used if paris. ? paris -- in paris, authorities say this attack wasn't a complete surprise. they were warned last month that isis was planning some kind of attack in jakarta. this morning, the u.s. central command says ten u.s. sailors are being reentry grated after they were held captive in iran and this is video circulating apparently staged by iranians as those nine men and would be woman forced to kneel and apologize for their boats drifting into iranian territorial waters.

the interviewer claims the apology is led by the commander of the group filmed before the release yesterday. >> it was a mistake that was our fault and we apologize. for our mistake. the iranian behavior was fantastic while we were here. we thank you very much for your hospitality. and your assistance. >> they say that sailor spoke to defuse a very tense situation. the white house says the realest is a sign of better relations with our longtime enemy but a few republican presidential hopefuls says it reflects iran's lack of respect for the u.s. with barack obama as president. they say what matters most right now is that the say alreadies are back safely. a story we first broke yesterday on the now tampa bay. and investigators are now blaming the hillsborough county school bus driver for crash on wednesday that injured multiple students. troopers say that bus made a left turn and hit an suv on u.s. 301 in river view. 31 students were on board. two children were from somer field crossing elementary school and went to the hospital

with minor injuries. >> they both went really fast into each other. so everyone started -- to like go forward. and then my head hit the seat. >> troopers gave the bus driver a 63-year-old woman a ticket for failing to yield. a lot of you are watching my exclusive interview with widow nicole oulson on the website right now. we have the whole thing posted here and yesterday she celebrated her husband's life and memory two years since chad oulson was shot and killed in a theater in wesley chapel. second degree murder case against curtis reeves who claims self-defense still hasn't gone to trial. and just this week she failed a civil -- filed a civil lawsuit against the movie theater, listen as nicole really opens up about life without chad and raising their young daughter. >> lexi is the spitting image of him. >> two years since little lexi lost her father. >> we talk about him and she's very curious. >> and nicole oulson lost the love of her life. >> he's still -- he's still part of me.

>> and the widow still wears her wedding rings a daily reminder of chad. >> i decided to wear it on here. until i'm ready i guess. i don't know when that time will be to take it off. i will go from up here to down here just like that. but -- instead of staying down here for long periods of time, i'm able to talk myself through it. and work it out quicker than i was in the past. >> 3-year-old lexi has a lot of questions about what happened to her father. >> sometimes she talks about him. like -- why can't he come back you know. other days she wants to know about that mean man that hurt daddy. is he? jail? >> there have been a few moments when the answers come to her unexpectedly. from something that feels a lot like chad. >> one evening we were out there and it was just a beautiful pink sunset and she says, daddy's sending me pink clouds because he knows it's my favorite calor -- color. and it just hit me.

us you know, is him speaking to us. >> and at that point that happens again and -- that happens again and again and i also asked her what would chad say if he were here and kind of looking over all of this? she said he would say he's proud of his girls and just making it the best they can. >> we were talking off-camera about our emotions. you expected her to be fragile but you were surprised she wasn't. >> she was strong and adamant and had to stay strong for her daughter. every time she gets angry about this she just thinks i'm not going to waste my effort and my anger on this defendant. she tries to just kind of move norward in a positive way. >> all thinking about thattal. >> go to abcactionnews.com and see the full interview on there.

16 minutes after 9:00 right now. the oscar nominations are in. the announcements were just made moments ago. >> and the rev than leads all

films with nine nominations. >> for best actor -- yes, best actor in a leading role. bryan cranston and matt diplon and leonardo dicaprio and --th matt damon and eddie red main. >> here's the ones for best actress -- >> and let's talk about the eight movies up for best picture this year. the big short, bridge of spies, brooklyn, mad max, fur rye road. the martian, the revenant, the room in the spotlight. >> there's no "star wars" in that category. >> yeah,. >> i think it's leo's fire. >> finally -- year. >> finally. we haven't seen very many of these between the three of us. >> i saw part of mad max. >> you have seen more than both dan and i. >> i know for the first time. of course chris rock is going to be hosting the 88th annual oscars. that's sunday, february 28th and watch the oscars right here live on abc action news station. we promise we'll see more.

you know i was thinking the same thing whenever the nominations come out. it's always a reminder to me of all the movies i haven't seen. all right river gate tower tampa camera. it'd be a good day to watch to movie and hang inside or on the couch with a nice soft blanket. things are looking pretty nice but again a cool day today with plenty of cloud cover. the shower chancings really go you have -- chances really go up after sunset tonight. and rain off and on through the overnight. but high pressure is still in control and keeping the bulk of the heavier rain through south florida, the keys and cuba rue night. but -- right now. but tomorrow's rain and storms, that's all due to the area of low pressure that's just starting to develop in the western gulf but it's going to work its way across the gulf pretty quickly. and give us that chance for rain heavy at times tomorrow starting early in the day. we may even see some severe

or an isolated severe storm. that's coming up in the next full forecast. right now though we are looking really quiet today and temperatures are in the low to mid-50s right now. and we're going to top out in the mid 60s. again, a lot of cloud cover. and we've got this warm moist flow of air that's going to start to work its way in later on today and into tonight. and that's setting the stage for some heavier rain tomorrow and again that chance for storms throughout the first half of the ditheist. and the timing of it could change a little bet so again i'll have more on that coming up. but then saturday is our in- between day with pretty quiet and sunday our next front quickly rolls through. giving us some cooler air and a chance for rain. especially in the first part of the day. but that cooler air is going to stick around and in the next week, so guess what? we're going to have the boots and long sleeves and sweaters going next week as well. dan, back to you. thanks shay. and new developments coming in from oregon this morning. the fire chief in oregon has resigned. chief chris brille has lost

is a now siding with the protesters. this, as the armed militants occupying the mount horeb national wildlife refuge announced they will hold a community meting and inform -- meeting and inform residents when they will leave. at 7:00 p.m. now. flustered during a campaign stop last night in pensacola after he started having trouble with his microphone. point packed rally, the this was a packed rally in pensacola. he paused and went on a rant. listen. >> by the way i don't like this mic. whoever the hell brought the mic -- the son of a [ bleep ] that got it on. no, this mic is terrible. it keeps popping. >> well, ahead of the first gop debate of the year, republican win the sunshine state. he took aim at the two men who call florida home. he says bush has low energy and

rubio is a sitting senator. today we're seeing video from australia of a man to stopping a car thief by jumping feet first through the passenger side window. the victim walked from his car in the city of darwin and that's when the thief got inside tried to drive away but the owner watch this. look at that. jumps right in through the window. after a brief struggle that thief ran off. >> i'm standing here -- >> you know. >> amazing. you know while most of us did not win last night's $1.5 billion powerball jackpot, you might have still won a smaller prize. john matarese explains just how much money goes unclaimed so you don't waste your money. >> reporter: with so much focus on the billion dollar powerball, a lot of other people are winning smaller amounts but they don't know it. in fact, a new report says more than 100 lottery millionaires are missing. cnn money says $2 billion in lotto winnings were unclaimed last year. mostly to people who won $5 and never bothered to cash in their

ticket. but more alarming is the news that many people who won $1 million last year never came forward. that is right. cnn says 114 people won $1 million in 2015 and never came forward to claim it. the reason? they hear that nobody won the powerball. so guess what? they throw their ticket away. many ticket buyers don't even realize there are secondary prizes. so double check. in fact triple check your powerball tickets to make sure you're not missing out on a second place prize. so you don't waste your money. i'm john matarese, abc action news. and good morning everybody. the florida strawberry festival has been selecting a queen for 86 years. the first one crowned in 1930. it's a plant city tradition that we will be exploring with several generations of the same family coming up on positively

welcome back. #:25 now -- 9:25 now. after singer david bowie died this week, someone replaced bowie street in downtown austin, texas we assume named for jim bowie with this real looking sign that says david bowie street. they are spelled the same but pronounced differently. it's technically vandalism but they're going to let it stay up until tuesday to honor the late singer. actually a petition on change.org right now calling

so far it has more than 1600 signatures. unusual story that's going viral right now. typically have a story about a cute dog or moment that was caught on camera. >> but today a particular pillow is taking the internet by storm. yes a pillow. look at it. they're being called the mermaid pillows and the look of them can change in just seconds just by a touch of your hand. >> that is so cool. a news anchor found the pillows in a nebraska furniture store can then posted a live facebook video showing. the secrets are stitches that allows them to change colors, since the video was posted it's been viewed more than 29 million times and the store says the pillow retails for $149. but it quickly sold out. >> for a pillow? >> yeah. >> $149. >> the store is now running a special promotion to win a pair of the mesmerizing pillows. >> they are cool though. adam winer here on the road to tallahassee with a whole bunch of teachers from polk and they are going to

tallahassee to take a message to lawmakers that they want to see changes in florida's education system. some of the big issues that they want changed, they're going to talk about it coming

now at #:30 -- 9:30. 4, 8, 29, 27, 34, and the powerball is a 10. see those numbers? if they match the numbers on your ticket you are taking home one-third of the more than $1.5 billion jackpot. there are there are three winning tickets from last flight's drawing and one of them sold right here in florida. it was sold in melbourne beach on the east coast. specifically it was a publix on a 1 a. there was another one sold in tennessee. a third in chino hills, california. and it didn't take long for a

7/11 in the hi know hills -- chino hills, california. the owner will receive $1 million for selling the winning ticket and he's happy for whoever within. >> i'm very, very happy. whoever won from here. and i'm so thankful to my chino people. they supported me all year long. >> so far, none of the winners have been identified and even if you weren't the big winner you might have won a smaller prize. i mean there were about a dozen million dollar winners just here in florida. so check your numbers carefully. we won $100 here in the office pool. so we're pretty thankful for that. >> big decisions do we let it ride or roll it over? >> i know, spring for breakfast? >> we'll see. some florida teachers taking matter into their own hands this morning in their fight for better pay and fewer standardized tests. >> abc action news reporterred a amend winier is along for the -- adam winer is along for the ride as they head out to tallahassee to make sure the voices are heard. he joins us now with on temperature teachers joining --

one of the teachers joining the cause today. good morning adam. >> reporter: good morning. yeah we are on interstate 10 on the road to tallahassee for something called the enough is enough ally and we got -- rally and we got teachers if polk county. not just one but three buses on the way to the rally. one of them is the elementary schoolteacher susan with me now. i know you were going around asking how long everybody else has been a teacher. turned out you had been a teacher longer than anyone. maybe you know better than a lot of people how has testing and i know this is a big issue to you, how has testing changed the way you as a teacher have to work in the classroom? >> i'm not as good a teacher as i used to be. >> reporter: that must hurt to say. >> it's very sad. because before i could teach the whole child. as they walked in the door i could teem them emotionally, academically and socially and now only teach them academically when i can't meet their social needs which the babies need more than anything. >> reporter: i was boing to say you work with fifth graders

were closely and that relationship in a way you're another parent in their life i would imagine. >> i am with the students more than their parents are during the waking days. -- their waking hours. >> reporter: among a whole bunch of people going to tallahassee to lobby. what specifically do you want to see lawmakers here in florida change? >> i don't want them to judge a teacher. the students, or a school on a test. a test is not -- does not school. it's wrong, it's unethical and it shouldn't happen. >> reporter: the debate obviously going to continue with some who you know any that startized -- think that standardized testing is necessary to some degree but testing too much? a lot of the teachers are saying yes and thousands of people possibly headed to tallahassee right now including us on the road there. we're going to have coverage later on abc action news but tallahassee, i'm adam winer, back to you. >> see you guys then. central florida suck constitute

teacher is now back behind bars. accused sarah moore of having sex with a 14-year-old boy. well, now they say she was on her phone while she was out on bond. police say she went to a verizon store and said she was in trouble with the police. police say the pass code on her phone was then reset. all right, check out these temperatures now. we're trying to warm up out there. but right now, still in the low to mid-50s. we do have some upper 50s around north port and myakka city coming in at 58 degrees and not bad up around spring hill at 52. now as we move through the day, the temperatures are going to top out in the mid 60s. we have a lot of cloud cover out there. we'll get some breaks in a little sunshine from time to time. but not a ton. the good news if you are hoping for a dry day, is that you are going to have that. but after sunset, we'll start to see the rain chances picking up. and we will have a period of heavy rain and even some storms that could be strong to severe into tomorrow. i'll have more on that and the

in the seven day forecast. dan? happening today the man heading up the fight against isis coming to here in tampa bay. defense secretary ash carter is heading to macdill to update on the military campaign against the terror group. yesterday, he spoke at fort campbell in kentucky laying out a broad plan to quash isis with the help of our allies in europe. follow clipton french on twitter for updates at clifffrenchtv. former back street boy and "dancing with the stars" alum nick carter is facing charges in key west today. we pulled a mug shot from the monroe county just after the arrest wednesday night. there's some reports the ruskin native got into a scuffle at the hog's breath saloon but it's unclear what led up to that. he lost to bindi irwin on "dancing with the stars" last season and revealed his wife is pregnant with a boy. also this morning, whistler

a trial in march. awhile hillsborough county judge refused to dismiss the suit against the site gawker. hogan is suing that website. wall street has a dismal start for 2016. to believes tumbles again -- stocks tumbles again on wednesday on fears of the alarming fall of oil prices, here's a live look at the dow right now eking out minor gains and 17 points higher. still ahead, tragedy in the apples. the deadly -- alps. the deadly error that might have cost who young student -- o two young students their lives. >> why you should consider putting your house up for sale in winter instead of the warmer months in my angie's list

we've got some breaking news just into the newsroom right now. we have just confirmed that two million dollar powerball tickets were sold right here in tampa bay. one was sold in seminole at the publix on 113th street. the other million dollar ticket was purchased in zephyrhills at the radiant food store on gull boulevard. again check the numbers very closely. the numbers are 4, 8, 19, 27, 34, and the powerball is 10. we've been checking wires overnight to see the rescuers

have found more victims from an avalanche in the french apples. already kill -- alps. already killed three people. we're told two victims are teenagers, this is a video of search and rescue efforts went long into the night. government officials say this slope where this happened was closed because of an above average avalanche risk but the teens that died ventured into the closed area anyway. there was actually that teacher guiding the teenagers and some of the classmates and they were also hurt. the judge in los angeles says he doesn't have the authority to free one of the oldest inmates in the federal prison system. the man named carlos is 94 years old. and is serving life for running a colombia to los angeles drug trafficking operation. his attorney says he's had heart problems and should be allowed to spend what time he has left in mexico. only the fall bureau of prisons can reduce the sentence. out of california a man has been murdered. now police are searching for

his girlfriend after they say she posted an alleged confession on facebook. want to show you the mug shot right now. the san bernardino police department is serving for this woman right here, 18-year-old nicasiea james. they say she's been on the run since monday. now her post reads in part -- just going to tell you now before i get caught, we were really fighting and i got the knife and stabbed him. didn't think i would hurt him but i did. he died and i'm on the run. in the post, james allegedly accused her boyfriend identified by police as 21-year- old dorian powell of punching her, police say his injuries were consistent with the stabbing. police want anyone with information on where that woman might be to give them a call. well, this morning we're getting a pretty rare look at how drug traffickers try smuggling drugs into the u.s. u.s. border officers in texas found more than a ton of marijuana worth nearly $1

million in a shipment of carrots. fake carrots with marijuana hidden inside were mixed with the real batch of carrots. but they were detected by drug sniffing dogs. well, this case is now under investigation by the department of homeland security. new this morning, u.s. employers are testing out a new way to lure and keep new workers. help them pay back their student loans. more and more companies are helping workers refinance their debts better ratings -- at better rates rather giving employees extra cash for loan payments or even paying their workers' lendors directly. it's major benefit and people 35 and under who are struggling to pay thousands of dollars in student debt as they enter the work force. employers also want to make sure the money goes to the right place and this is created a niche for a handful of start- ups helping employers deliver that benefit. all right. we are off to a -- well a mixed bag of a day. we have quite a bit of love and you can -- cloud cover and you can see it there on the river gate tower tampa camera.

probably still want that extra layer if you haven't been out already. this morning it feels a lot like it did yesterday at this time. and the live radar, not picking up a thing. things are nice and quiet for now. it's not going to last though. take a look at the futurecast. and you can see a few breaks in the clouds throughout the day. but not a ton. and then at 4:00, you see the little bit of rain that starts to develop there offshore. that's just showing us that we have a chance for some moisture to start building in. and maybe a few showers across our southern counties there through the latter portion of the afternoon and into the early evening. may even see some of that over tampa bay at times tonight. but the heavier more widespread rain starts to approach the coastline around 9:30 tomorrow morning. that's the way this model is looking right now. but we are going to have some rounds of heavier rain associated with this area of low pressure that works its way in our direction. so the models have been varying just a little bit. right now though, i'm thinking somewhere between 8:00 in the morning and 2:00 in the

afternoon is when we're going to see the heaviest most widespread rain that moves through. and that's when we'll have our highest likelihood for any strong to severe storms potentially. the biggest concern is right along the coastline with some damaging winds and even the possibility of a brief tornado. so again, this is not a guarantee but this is the time frame right now that i'm looking at. and if that front -- or the area of low pressure does speed up or slow down, that time frame could be adjusted so the best thing to do is to have storm shield on your mobile device so that you will be alerted no matter where you're at if anything warnings -- any warnings are issued. then on saturday we're back to kind of a quiet day. 72 degrees as the high. that's looking pretty nice. on sunday, we'll have a round of showers before the cooler drier air moves in through the afternoon. and boy does it settle in. it sticks arnold for the beginning -- around for the beginning and even the middle of next workweek. that's florida's most accurate seven day, back to you dan. thanks shay. we're taking action for if you

you are planning to sell your home in year. you might want to hurry. in today's report why it could be easier to sell your home in winter ratter than spring, summer or fall. >> many people think selling their home in the winter is in the a great idea. but if -- not a great idea. but if you think about it there's less competition with fewer homes on the market. >> just one advantage. real estate agents say winter buyers are more motivated. but make sure your house is ready. >> what i like to do is always make sure that the heat is a certain temperature. maybe that's 72, 73 degrees. whatever is comfortable for that home when you walk in it feels warm and inviting. >> keep the house well lit. clean the windows and turn on lights even during the day. you never know when someone might take a look at your house. if you have a fireplace, have autosite fire going on -- a toasty fire going or set up a candle arrangement in the fireplace. >> really play to the features of winter weather. so think about how warm and inviting your house can be in the wintertime. and use that as a selling point. >> professional stagers say accessorize with throw pillows

toss some throw pillows in contemporary colors on the couch and chairs to make the room appear even more comfortable. and don't forget, curb appeal, clean the gutters and keep the trees and shrubs pruned and buy a fresh welcome mat for the front door. find more advice on the website. abcactionnews.com from an yee's list. well, it's a plant city tradition and going strong. the florida strawberry festival queens tomorrow, the pageant is next weekend and i am honored to host the evening. on positive tampa bay, you'll meet a mother and daughter who

good morning everybody. you don't have to live in plant city to know about the strawberry festival and the strawberry queen. it's at tampa bay tradition that dates back to 1930. you do however have to live in the pageant. each year only 35 young women

it's a first come first serve basis. it's a tradition that runs in many families with several generations winning like the varnum family. katie was crowned queen in 1985. there she is on the right. on the left -- and 29 years later her daughter jesse ray was crowned queen. the 2014 queen is here with us as well as mom of course. and also carrie gafford who is the pageant director, thank you for joining us and congratulations. >> thank you so much. >> it's so nice to meet the two of you. who's the queen whose hands goes up first? >> she was the first. so i was the second. we both raise our hand. >> tell us about the strawberry festival. and how winning the pageant in 2014 has helped you impacked your life in a great way. >> it's been one of the best experiences of my life. and it's impacted me in making me learn who i am as a woman and maturing, it's a lot of responsibility because we are the face of this organization. and that's so important to us. and it's important to us the

city and it means so much to us. so it was an honor, so-so thrilled i got the chance. >> so winning -- what was your prize? how much money did you receive? >> we actually got scholarship money. $2,200, which -- not only helped me at florida southern college where i go now. it's been a really great opportunity and the money was awesome. >> wonderful. mom you must be so proud. >> yes. very proud. >> how has the pageant changed since you won? >> when i was strawberry queen in 1985, we actually wore a swimsuit. they don't have that anymore. and then we were crowned two weeks after the pageant. at the opening night of the festival. >> got it. >> so that's something that's very different. >> when jesse ray said i want to compete, what was your first thought? >> oh its very excited. my husband said we were a little hard to live with for about six months in the house. but she worked very hard. >> well, two queens and that makes him a king right? carrie, this is a beautiful tradition started by the lions' club. explain to to the viewers.

>> yes. i've been a member for over ten years and i had the opportunity to be a cochair about seven years ago. me and gail we cochaired the event and it's a very important part of the tradition. the plant city lions club is -- an integral part of beginning the festival and back then we actually had members -- the members were not female. so we have a very great -- >> guys were in charge. >> presentation from our lions club auxiliary headed by jean undeafen port and we all worked together -- ann davenport and we all worked together and it's a great fundraiser for the organization. we raise over $50,000 every year and give it back to the community and our main mission is to fight blindness. >> the big night is january 23rd. and she is excited to be the master of ceremonies. so if you at home would like to see dan shaffer blush, surrounded by all the beautiful contestants in the strawberry festival. queens competition, please go to floridastrawberryfestival.com

again january 23rd, 6:00 p.m. and in plant city. and it will be a beautiful night. 1500 people gathered for the crown.

all right, we are looking at another cool and mostly cloudy day ahead. temperatures are going to top out in the mid 60s. tomorrow, brace yourself for the rain and also a chance for a few storms in the mix. could even see a strong to severe storm. so we'll be watching that for closely -- very closely starting tomorrow morning. mississippi woman had a priceless reaction after finding out she's going to be a great-grandmother to triplets. >> it was caught on camera then posted to facebook.

>> what is that say right there? >> baby a.? >> ma what does that say? -- what does that say? >> no is it twins? >> what does this one say? >> baby c.? >> what? what? is it twins? >> it's triplets. >> what? ! look at me. is that true? oh! >> that is 82-year-old joy smith and she was overjoyed by the news that her son was having triplets. >> her husband just passed away and he was a twin. that's why she kept saying is it twins? instead three babies. >> it's been shared nearly 5,000 times on facebook. her family says she is still having a little trouble understanding all this internet -- [ laughter ] so cute. >> understandable. >> con congratulatelations. >> yes. continuing coverage right now of the day's top stories on abcactionnews.com. >> "fab life" is next. >> have a great rest of the